Prerequisite: 7th level
You can cast Polymorph once using a warlock spell slot. You can't do so again until you finish a long rest.
Sculptor of Flesh: Body Builder
Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
You’ve reached 7th level, having finally adjusted to entering into the mid tier of gameplay. You unlock 4th level spells, which is pretty sweet, upgrading your two pact magic spell slots. On top of that, you reach a new prerequisite tier for the warlock invocations; Sculptor of Flesh is available here! Polymorph seems like a busted spell. It has to be worth an invocation to just be allowed to cast it, right?
Wrong! Like all of the other invocations that functionally act as a bonus learned spell that you get the privilege to cast once a long rest, even Polymorph, one of the best 4th level spells in the game, isn’t worth an entire invocation to get. Sculptor of Flesh isn’t giving you access to more resources, nor is it meaningfully empowering a resource you already have. It lets you get access to a spell bards, druids, sorcerers, and wizards can just learn and cast with their 4th level slots while also having a robust roster of lower level spells to play with. This lets you spend one of your precious few resources once a long rest on this spell. That isn’t good enough.
Invocations need to majorly empower a play style (Thirsting Blade, Repelling Blast, Agonizing Blast, Investment of the Chain Master) or give you a robust new tool to interact with the world with (Ascendant Step, Mask of Many Faces, Misty Visions). This does neither of those things. You need powerful consistent tools out of your invocations; they’re what define warlocks, make them stack up reasonably against other characters. Getting to learn another class's spell and have it compete with your already incredibly competitive two spell slots per short rest is not worth it. Not even for Polymorph.
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